>Amethystloucks at 18:28, 10 March 2021

2021-03-10T18:28:02Z

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{{short description|1971 Indian neorealistic drama film by Prem Kapoor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = ''Badnam Basti''
| image = Badnam Basti.jpg
| caption = Poster of the film
| director = Prem Kapoor
| producer = [[National Film Development Corporation of India|Film Finance Corporation]]
| writer = [[Kamleshwar (writer)|Kamleshwar]]
| based_on = {{Based on|''Badnam Basti''|[[Kamleshwar (writer)|Kamleshwar]]}}
| starring = Nitin Sethi, Amar Kakkad and Nandita Thakur
| music = [[Vijay Raghav Rao]]
| cinematography = RM Rao
| editing = [[Hrishikesh Mukherjee]], Prem Kapoor
| released = 1971
| runtime = 83 minutes
| country = [[India]]
| language = [[Hindi language|Hindi]]
| budget = {{INR}} 250,000
}}

'''''Badnam Basti''''' (English: ''Infamous Neighbourhood<ref name=":2">{{cite book|last1=Ross|first1=Oliver|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-SzuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA183|title=Same-Sex Desire in Indian Culture: Representations in Literature and Film, 1970–2015|date=2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-137-56692-8|page=36|language=en|access-date=23 August 2020|archive-date=1 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901133000/https://books.google.com/books?id=-SzuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA183|url-status=live}}</ref>'') is a 1971 [[Bollywood]] [[drama film]] directed by Prem Kapoor and adapted from an [[Eponym|eponymous novel]] by Hindi novelist [[Kamleshwar (writer)|Kamleshwar]].<ref name=":3">{{cite book|last1=Shahani|first1=Parmesh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d8fhDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT155|title=Gay Bombay: Globalization, Love and (Be)longing in Contemporary India|date=2020|publisher=SAGE Publishing India|isbn=978-93-5388-421-5|pages=212|language=en|access-date=9 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901132942/https://books.google.com/books?id=d8fhDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT155|archive-date=1 September 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Starring Nitin Sethi, Amar Kakkad, and Nandita Thakur, it is often described as India's first [[gay film]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Basu|first1=Vijayeta|title=Things to do in Mumbai today|language=en|work=Mumbai Mirror|url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/others/things-to-do/things-to-do-in-mumbai-today/articleshow/77228041.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst|url-status=live|access-date=5 August 2020|archive-date=1 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901124924/https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/others/things-to-do/things-to-do-in-mumbai-today/articleshow/77228041.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst}}</ref> The film was thought to have been [[Lost film|lost]] for 40 years, but a print was found in 2019.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last1=Kahlon|first1=Sukhpreet|date=28 July 2020|title=Finding Badnaam Basti (1972): Accidental discovery that restored a piece of Indian cinematic history|url=https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2020/jul/28/26558|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901125824/https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2020/jul/28/26558|archive-date=1 September 2020|access-date=5 August 2020|website=Cinestaan}}</ref>

== Plot ==
Set in [[Mainpuri]], Uttar Pradesh, ''Badnam Basti'' tells the story of Sarnam Singh, a bus driver who is also a [[Dacoity|bandit]]. Sarnam saves Bansuri from being raped by another bandit. Bansuri falls in love with him, but he is jailed for a petty crime. Upon release, Sarnam searches for Bansuri but does not find her. He then meets Shivraj, who works in a temple, and hires him as a cleaner in the bus. The two become physically and emotionally intimate. Sarnam again encounters Bansuri, who is now living with Sarnam's crony, Rangile, who won her at an auction in a village [[mela]]. Bansuri desires to return to Sarnam, but he is torn by his longing for Bansuri and his love for Shivraj. Shivraj, however, goes on to marry Kamala. Rangile, who is a police informant, is convicted and jailed for duplicity in legal matters. As the film ends, Sarnam takes Bansuri and her newborn to his home.

==Cast==
* Nitin Sethi as Sarnam Singh
* Nandita Thakur as Bansuri
* Amar Kakkad as Shivraj
* Nandlal Sharma

==Production==
The film is based on {{lang|hi|Ek Sadak Sattavan Galiyan}} (''A Street with 57 Lanes''),<ref name=":1" /> the debut novel of the [[Hindi literature|Hindi]] writer [[Kamleshwar Prasad Saxena]] which was originally titled ''Badnam Basti'' and serialized in the Hindi journal [[Hans (magazine)|''Hans'']] in 1956 and published as a novel in 1957.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kamaleshwar |title=Samagra Upanyas |date=2013 |publisher=Rajpal & Sons |isbn=978-81-7028-508-3 |page=09 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Ia7bPJH8VQC&pg=PA9 |access-date=12 June 2020 |language=hi |archive-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901132934/https://books.google.com/books?id=9Ia7bPJH8VQC&pg=PA9 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite book|last1=Vanita|first1=R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VbvIDAAAQBAJ&pg=PR3|title=Same-Sex Love in India: Readings in Indian Literature|last2=Kidwai|first2=S.|date=2000|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-137-05480-7|pages=202|language=en|access-date=9 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901133000/https://books.google.com/books?id=VbvIDAAAQBAJ&pg=PR3|archive-date=1 September 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{cite news|last1=Gaekwad|first1=Manish|date=29 May 2020|title=India's first gay film ''Badnam Basti'' resurfaces after nearly half a century's hibernation in Berlin archive|language=en|work=Firstpost|url=https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/indias-first-gay-film-badnam-basti-resurfaces-after-nearly-half-a-centurys-hibernation-in-berlin-archive-8419921.html|url-status=live|access-date=9 June 2020|archive-date=8 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608131510/https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/indias-first-gay-film-badnam-basti-resurfaces-after-nearly-half-a-centurys-hibernation-in-berlin-archive-8419921.html}}</ref>

''Badnam Basti'' was produced by the [[National Film Development Corporation of India|Film Finance Corporation]] on a budget of {{INR}}250,000. It was shot in a four-week period at Mainpuri.<ref name=":1">{{cite news|last1=Gaekwad|first1=Manish|date=21 February 2016|title=The untold story of 'Badnam Basti', possibly India's first gay movie|work=Scroll.in|url=https://scroll.in/reel/803838/the-untold-story-of-badnam-basti-possibly-indias-first-gay-movie|url-status=live|access-date=9 June 2020|archive-date=14 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614015700/https://scroll.in/reel/803838/the-untold-story-of-badnam-basti-possibly-indias-first-gay-movie}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite news|last1=Ghosh|first1=Avijit|date=27 May 2020|title=Almost 50 years later, first Hindi film on queer love makes waves|work=The Times of India|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/75916816.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst_prime|url-status=live|access-date=9 June 2020|archive-date=12 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712131556/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/75916816.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst_prime}}</ref> The theme of homosexual interest between the two male characters caused Kamaleshwar's novel to attract controversy; Prem Kapoor had to excise scenes from the novel and make their relationship only suggestive in order to receive clearance by the [[Censorship in India#Film|film censorship board]].<ref name="auto" /><ref>{{cite journal |journal=Democratic World |year=1989 |page=18 |volume=18 |title=Badnam Basti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OEl8BbJic0oC&q=%22badnam+basti%22+democratic+world |access-date=20 June 2020 |publisher=Gulab Singh & Sons |language=en |archive-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901132942/https://books.google.com/books?id=OEl8BbJic0oC&q=%22badnam+basti%22+democratic+world |url-status=live }}</ref>

Although it is labelled as India's first [[LGBT film|gay film]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Kashish 2020 to screen India's first gay film Badnam Basti, lost and found after 49 years|language=en|work=The Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/indias-first-gay-film-badnam-basti-lost-and-found-after-49-years-to-screen-at-kashish-2020/articleshow/77164897.cms|url-status=live|access-date=5 August 2020|archive-date=28 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728045647/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/indias-first-gay-film-badnam-basti-lost-and-found-after-49-years-to-screen-at-kashish-2020/articleshow/77164897.cms}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{cite web|date=26 July 2020|title=India's first gay film 'Badnam Basti', lost and found after 49 years, to screen at KASHISH 2020|url=https://cineblitz.in/news-gossip/indias-first-gay-film-badnam-basti-lost-and-found-after-49-years-to-screen-at-kashish-2020/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729160032/https://cineblitz.in/news-gossip/indias-first-gay-film-badnam-basti-lost-and-found-after-49-years-to-screen-at-kashish-2020/|archive-date=29 July 2020|access-date=5 August 2020|website=CineBlitz}}</ref> ''Badnam Basti'' neither explicitly depicts nor identifies the male characters as gay.''<ref name=":2" />''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gokulsing |first1=K. Moti |last2=Dissanayake |first2=Wimal |title=Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-77284-9 |page=202 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=djUFmlFbzFkC&pg=PA434 |access-date=20 June 2020 |language=en |archive-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901132933/https://books.google.com/books?id=djUFmlFbzFkC&pg=PA434 |url-status=live }}</ref> They are [[bisexual]] rather than gay, and their relationship is secondary to their [[heterosexuality|heterosexual]] relationships.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />

==Songs==
The music for ''Badnam Basti'' was composed by [[Vijaya Raghava Rao]] and [[Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan]]. Khan, who previously worked with Rao in ''[[Bhuvan Shome]]'', sang "Sajna Kaahe Nahi Aaye" for the film.<ref name="auto1">{{cite book |last1=Khan |first1=Ustad Ghulam Mustafa |last2=Khan |first2=Namrata Gupta |title=A Dream I Lived Alone |date=2018 |publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited |isbn=978-93-5305-384-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLh9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT98 |language=en |access-date=23 August 2020 |archive-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901132944/https://books.google.com/books?id=uLh9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT98 |url-status=live }}</ref> Lyrics were by Virendra Mishra and [[Harivansh Rai Bachchan]]; Bachchan recites the poem "Mele Mein Khoi Gujariya" in the film.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="auto1"/> Rao and [[Satish Bhutani]] also sang in the film. The sound recording was done by [[Narinder Singh]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bhattacharjee |first1=Rudradeep |title=Sound stories: Narinder Singh on his collaborations with Basu Chatterjee and Gulzar |url=https://scroll.in/reel/967403/sound-stories-narinder-singh-on-his-collaborations-with-basu-chatterjee-and-gulzar |website=Scroll.in |access-date=5 August 2020 |archive-date=17 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717081329/https://scroll.in/reel/967403/sound-stories-narinder-singh-on-his-collaborations-with-basu-chatterjee-and-gulzar |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following is the list of songs in ''Badnam Basti'':<ref>{{cite web|title=Badnam Basti (1971)|url=https://www.hindigeetmala.net/movie/badnam_basti.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611111346/https://www.hindigeetmala.net/movie/badnam_basti.htm|archive-date=11 June 2020|access-date=11 June 2020|website=HindiGeetMala|language=en}}</ref>

{{Track listing
| extra_column = Singer
| title1 = Sajna Kahe Nahi Aaye | extra1 = Ghulam Mustafa Khan
| title2 = Akela Taaro Bhara Mela| extra2 = Satish Bhutani
| title3 = Godaniya Gudwaye Le | extra3 = Vijay Raghav Rao
| title4 = Mele Me Khoi Gujarriya | extra4 = Harivansh Rai Bachchan
| title5 = Sun Lo Katha Sita Ki | extra5 = Vijay Raghav Rao
}}

==Release and reception==
The film was released with an "A" certification from the [[Central Board of Film Certification]].<ref name=":0" /> It received mixed reviews. ''[[The Times of India]]'' called it "a welcome step forward in the direction of 'new cinema' in India".<ref name="auto"/> The ''[[Economic Times (India)|Economic Times]]'' noted that "''Badnam Basti'' presents a true picture of reality".<ref name="auto3"/> However, a review by Indian magazine ''Link'' penned "no film at all – its technical gimmicks are totally out of rhythm with the insipid directorial conception".<ref>{{cite book |title=Link: Indian Newsmagazine |date=1971 |page=40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=crMxAQAAIAAJ&q=%22badnam+basti |access-date=11 June 2020 |language=en |archive-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901132934/https://books.google.com/books?id=crMxAQAAIAAJ&q=%22badnam+basti |url-status=live }}</ref> Rajika Kirpalani in his book ''Another Time, Another Place'' wrote: "little more interesting than the [[hotchpotch]] that passes for films generally", and that it "sustains its interest merely because of Nitin Sethi, who truly infuses his character with hardy, virile, rural verve".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kirpalani |first1=Rajika |title=Another Time, Another Place: Selected Writings of Rajika Kirpalani |date=1975 |publisher=Rajika Education Trust |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GisKAQAAIAAJ&q=%22badnam+basti |access-date=11 June 2020 |language=en |archive-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901132942/https://books.google.com/books?id=GisKAQAAIAAJ&q=%22badnam+basti |url-status=live }}</ref> Sethi received praise from ''[[The Illustrated Weekly of India]]'', which commented that "Sarnam's loneliness has been projected superbly by Prem Kapoor. It is hard to imagine anyone but Nitin Sethi in the role".<ref name="auto3" />

==Re-release and lost film status==
Originally edited by [[Hrishikesh Mukherjee]], the film did not do well at the [[box office]].<ref name=":0" /> It was re-edited by Kapoor and re-released in 1978 with a "U" certificate, but was a commercial failure again.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The film was thereafter thought to be [[Lost film|lost]] with no [[Film print|prints]] available in India, but re-emerged in 2019 when a print was located in the [[Film archive|archives]] of the Arsenal Institute for Film and Video Art, [[Berlin]].<ref name="auto3"/> It has since been digitized and was screened by the [[Block Museum of Art]] in May 2020 and at the [[KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival|Kashish film festival]], Mumbai.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Majumdar |first1=Mayukh |title=India's First Gay Film, ''Badnam Basti'', Turns Up in Berlin |url=https://www.mansworldindia.com/culture/indias-first-gay-film-badnam-basti-turns-up-in-berlin/ |access-date=5 August 2020 |publisher=Man's World |date=30 May 2020 |archive-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901132935/https://www.mansworldindia.com/culture/indias-first-gay-film-badnam-basti-turns-up-in-berlin/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":5" /> Interestingly, National Film Archive of India’s director Prakash Magdum said that three years back a film laboratory had deposited Badnam Basti’s negative with them. “However, we need to ascertain its condition,” he told TOI over phone in 2020. (9)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0370319|title=Badnam Basti}}

[[Category:1970s Hindi-language films]]
[[Category:1971 LGBT-related films]]
[[Category:1970s rediscovered films]]
[[Category:1971 drama films]]
[[Category:1971 films]]
[[Category:Films based on Indian novels]]
[[Category:Films set in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Films shot in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Hindi-language drama films]]
[[Category:Indian black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:Indian LGBT-related films]]
[[Category:LGBT-related drama films]]
[[Category:Male bisexuality in film]]
[[Category:Rediscovered Indian films]]

Badnam Basti - Revision history

>Amethystloucks at 18:28, 10 March 2021